The company and companionship of a pet such as a dog is invaluable. Human nature has a great need to have such pets close at hand and to allow them into our homes. However, such pets, particularly dogs, are notorious for tracking dirt inside the home and getting paw prints onto floors, carpeting, and furniture. Unfortunately, the soiling of a dog's paws is, for the most part, unavoidable given the necessity of allowing a dog outside for exercise and excreting bodily waste and, in some instances, the instinct in many breeds to thereafter scrape the earth as if to cover the waste with dirt. Inclement weather only exacerbates this problem.
Traditionally, pet owners have had to either bath their dogs or wash their paws by traditional means, for example with a wet towel or by placing the entire dog into a bathtub. Both are messy and involved processes. Bathing results in washing more dog than is dirty, and the wet towel process requires restricting movement of the dog (sometimes a monumental task in an of itself) while fetching and preparing the towel, carrying a dripping towel across the floor, and returning a wet and soiled towel to a wash basin thereafter.
In the past, devices have been used to wash only an animal's paws. Some such devices are adapted to fit over the paw, but are usually cumbersome, inefficient, and fail to adequately solve the above-mentioned problems. For example, some devices are sized to fit the animal's paw, requiring a person with pets of different sizes to purchase and store numerous devices. Some devices are not large enough to hold sufficient amounts of water, thereby requiring several trips to the tap to empty and refill the device. Some devices do not, by design, prevent tipping over, nor are they designed to allow adequate water to come into contact with the paw during the wash. Other devices also do not prevent splashing of the water (or other cleaning agent) when washing the paw or withdrawing it from the device. The problem of splashing is particularly keen given the unpredictable behavior of animals and the need to hold the device at an angle while cleaning the paw. A further issue not solved by other devices is removing the scrubbing element therein for cleaning or replacement in an easy way.
Notwithstanding the usefulness of the structures previously used for cleaning an animal's paws, a need still exists for a device providing a convenient and efficient one-size-fits-all means to clean the paw in a convenient, inexpensive way, to prevent tipping over, to hold sufficient water and allow it to adequately come into contact with the paw during the wash, to prevent splashing, and to easily remove the scrubbing element.